Just then, there was a knock on the door, and a priest announced that the ceremony was about to begin. The maids entered to adjust Magnolia’s wedding dress.

Magnolia looked flustered and turned back to Veronica, but she had already turned her back.

Outside, the Thompsons were waiting for Veronica.

As she approached Lady Arin, who asked if the talk went well, a hand grabbed her shoulder. It was Brai Cole with a fierce expression.

“How did you come here!”

“I was invited, so I came.”

“What? Who invited you? Who on earth!”

Veronica just stared at him instead of answering.

Thinking he was being ignored, Brai Cole’s face turned red with anger. His grip on her shoulder tightened.

“If you try anything at the wedding-!”

“Do you have some business with my fiancée?”

Another hand grasped Brai Cole’s hand. His face immediately softened as he looked up at the intruder.

“Y-Your Highness Prince Theron, what brings you here?”

“I’m attending as a partner.”

Cassian removed the hand clinging to Veronica’s shoulder and pulled her to his side.

Momentarily flustered, Brai chose to flatter him, saying it was an honor to have him attend.

Cassian looked at Brai contemptuously, gave a perfunctory “Congratulations on the marriage,” then turned away.

“It seems I was more of a bodyguard than a partner.”

“How could I dare ask Your Highness to be my bodyguard?”

“Who is that man? He seems quite disliked.”

“It’s fine. I don’t particularly like him either.”

“I don’t like him either.”

“Oh my. We’re already in sync.”

He left Veronica behind. How embarrassing.

As Veronica unconsciously raised her head to follow her cute fiancé, her crimson eyes widened.

That person… She hurriedly moved her feet, but he had already disappeared from view.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

I must have seen wrong. Veronica shook her head.

The two entered the place where the wedding ceremony was about to begin. There were quite a few attendees for a hastily arranged wedding.

Priests stood in front of the altar, and soon the sound signaling the start of the wedding rang out.

With a solemn blessing, the doors connecting to the outside would open, and the bride and groom would enter together.

But when the doors opened, there was no one there.

A murmur broke out among the people. Thinking perhaps preparations were taking longer, they waited, but there was no sign of the bride and groom appearing.

People’s gazes naturally turned to the bride’s family and the groom’s family. Both sides looked confused.

Meanwhile, Lady Arin approached urgently.

“Veronica! Something terrible has happened!”

“What’s going on?”

Wondering if something had happened to Magnolia, she was about to ask when there was a commotion outside the building.

People quickly went outside. Veronica also sprang up from her seat and followed.

The people who came out were all looking at the outer wall of the building.

As she turned her head in that direction, a human figure could be seen outside a window on the middle floor.

With her dress fluttering, precariously perched on a protrusion below the window, was the bride who never came – Magnolia.

“Magnolia!”

Viscount Lining cried out with a pale face. When Magnolia’s body swayed once, screams erupted from the crowd.

It was a perilous situation at a glance.

The part she was standing on was barely wide enough for the tip of her shoe, and her body swaying in the wind looked like it could fall at any moment.

Though the wind was calm, it felt threatening in this moment.

“Come inside right now! It’s too dangerous!”

“She’s going to fall!”

“Someone go up there!”

Shouts were heard here and there. In fact, Viscount Lining sent someone up.

But it was too late. Magnolia’s unsteadily swaying body suddenly fell. Brai Cole could be seen reaching out from inside.

Veronica quickly ran towards her. And she saw another back running out ahead of her.

Cassian and Veronica caught the falling Magnolia.

The three of them fell in a tangled heap. It was natural for groans to escape. Fortunately, the height wasn’t too great, so the impact when catching her wasn’t severe.

Cassian, who was groaning, whispered:

“I thought you said not to worry about it.”

“I have nothing to say at this point.”

As Veronica struggled to get up, people were rushing over all at once.

They surrounded Cassian first, checking his complexion and physical condition. It was natural since His Highness the Imperial Prince had suffered an accident.

Meanwhile, Veronica checked Magnolia’s condition. Seeing her pale complexion, she felt both relief and anger.

“What were you thinking! That was so dangerous!”

“I-I’m sorry. I was in such a hurry.”

She was lucky – if it had been any higher, she would have died instantly. She could have easily died.

Veronica firmly told her “Never do something like this again.”

Magnolia, who had been quietly listening as if repenting, suddenly grabbed Veronica’s hand.

“We need to run away quickly!”

Veronica got up reflexively as her hand was pulled. They ran just like that.

Some people approached to check on Magnolia’s condition, but most of the attention was on Cassian, so no one stopped them.

The two of them escaped from the church and headed towards the park in the back. Despite her bold start, Magnolia was soon out of breath.

In the end, they stopped under a large tree not far into the park.

Leaning against the tree trunk, Magnolia was struggling as if she might lose her breath at any moment. Veronica rubbed her back.

“Are you alright?”

“Y-Yes…”

She didn’t look alright. Veronica, who had a difference in stamina from Magnolia due to regular training, caught her breath lightly.

Her left leg felt a bit numb, but it was bearable. Fortunately, no one was following them.

Looking at Magnolia again, she was in a mess.

The clean and beautiful wedding dress was wrinkled in places, and the hem of the skirt was stained black with dirt.

She had lost one shoe while falling and was barefoot. Her neatly styled hair was disheveled and unsightly, and her face, which had been pale with makeup, was now covered in sweat in a short time.

“You know we’ve been calling each other by name since earlier?”

As if that was something to be happy about, Magnolia grinned with her sweat-soaked face. It wasn’t a particularly good look given the situation.

“What should I do now…”

Magnolia curled up and sat down. The tree’s shadow faintly covered her small body.

Her face, contorted like a lost child’s, was filled with despair.

She tried to smile, but the wavering tree shadow reflected her uneasy state of mind.

“Veronica. You’ll help me, right…”

“No. I won’t help you.”

Round eyes turned towards Veronica. Veronica calmly continued speaking.

“Why should I help you?”

Did she expect that Veronica would naturally help her like others? If she acted this way based on that alone, it was a huge miscalculation.

Veronica had only advised Magnolia, never saying she would help. Advice and help had different meanings.

“I’m not a good person. If you thought I was a good person, that was a mistake. I didn’t help you even as I watched you being dragged to the Linings. You already knew I wasn’t the person you hoped for, Magnolia.”

When Magnolia first came to her, she predicted that breaking off her engagement wouldn’t be easy.

He was a man who not only had an affair with another woman while having a wife but also locked her in a mental hospital and left her to die.

Such a man wouldn’t let go easily, and there seemed to be other circumstances involved.

But not wanting to get involved, she pretended not to know. It might seem cold-hearted, but that was Veronica’s true feelings.

“I have no reason to help you.”

Yet you’re hoping for my help.

“Tell me why I should help you.”

“…I want to be happy.”

A cautious voice flowed out. Magnolia suddenly stood up.

Her weakened legs staggered a bit, but she quickly regained her balance. Her face, with her head held high, shone with a clear light.

Sunlight filtering through the leaves illuminated her face in patches.

“You said so yourself. That at this rate, I would never be happy. That the idea of my life getting better was like a dream. You’re right. It’s absurd for someone else to decide my happiness. If I can’t even determine my own happiness, how can I hope for happiness?”

“…”

“I want to be happy.”

Her hunched shoulders straightened, and small emotions showed on her bare face with the makeup wiped off.

“I want to live for my own happiness too.”

Hope sprouts and sparkles in despair. Veronica smiled bitterly.

“Even if there’s no guarantee that the future will definitely be happy? Even if you might regret it for the rest of your life? You may have avoided the worst for now, but there might be another worst waiting.”

“That’s okay.”

“You’ll receive the same wounds.”

“I don’t mind. Because it’s the path I chose.”

The hope that began to swell filled her yellow eyes with vitality.

Magnolia smiled. Not a smile trembling with fear, but genuinely rejoicing at the happiness that would come to her.

“It’s okay even if I regret it and get hurt, even if it’s hard and I want to give up. I’m not unafraid, but it’s the first thing I’ve chosen for myself. Give me the courage to decide my own happiness.”

Her voice, which had gained strength, shouted:

“Help me, Veronica.”